The Irish tell the story of a man who arrives at the gates of heaven and asks to be let in St. Peter says, “Of course, just show us your scars.” The man says, “I have no scars”. St. Peter says, “What a pity was there nothing worth fighting for”?
Interpretation
This quote emphasizes the importance of experiencing challenges and struggles in life.
The quote reflects on the idea that our struggles and scars are indicative of the passions and values we hold dear. It suggests that a life without challenges or battles could lack meaning, as the obstacles we face and overcome shape our character and stories. Through this lens, it becomes essential to engage deeply with our convictions and fight for what truly matters to us.
In practice
This quote could be used in a motivational speech about resilience and determination.
Childhood hunger in America is as much a paradox as it is a tragedy. Why, in the wealthiest country in the world, should hunger darken the lives and dreams of 12 million children and their families? I believe that, when Americans learn the facts and understand how their involvement can make a difference, banishing childhood hunger will be a national, local and personal priority.
While acting is what I do for a living, activism is what I do to stay alive.
I am still a journeyman actor and a peace and justice activist. I'm a pilgrim trying to win my freedom and serve as best I can in the time I have, with this gift I've been given.
When I reached adulthood, even now, I could afford to belong to a country club. But I could never belong to a private club because of my experience as a child, because it would isolate me from the whole of humanity.
Future generations are not going to ask us what political party were you in. They are going to ask what did you do about it, when you knew the glaciers were melting.
My recovery is the single greatest accomplishment of my life. Without that, the rest of my life would have fallen apart.
Do you ever wait for the longest day of the year and then miss it? I always wait for the longest day of the year and then miss it!
How many years have slipped through our hands? At least as many as the constellations we still can identify. The quarter moon, like a light skiff, floats out of the mist-remnants Of last night’s hard rain. It, too, will slip through our fingers with no ripple, without us in it.
In order to write about life first you must live it.
It is easier to live through someone else than to become complete yourself.
But sometimes, unexpectedly, grief pounded over me in waves that left me gasping; and when the waves washed back, I found myself looking out over a brackish wreck which was illumined in a light so lucid, so heartsick and empty, that I could hardly remember that the world had ever been anything but dead.
The impetus to grow and live intensely is so powerful in me I cannot resist it. I will work, I will love my husband, but I will fulfill myself.
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